News roundup: A beheading at a noodle shop
Top China news for February 20, 2017. Get this daily digest delivered to your inbox by signing up atย supchina.com/subscribe.
Dear reader,
Todayโs newsletter is brief: Weโre celebrating Presidentsโ Day here in the U.S. Two stories caught our eyes today:
Customer beheads noodle shop owner
A 22-year-old man who ate three bowls of noodles at a restaurant in Wuhan, Hubei Province, got into a dispute with the owner after accusing him of overcharging by three yuan ($0.44). The customer then severed the proprietorโs head and deposited it in a trash can outside the restaurant. The man was arrested shortly thereafter. According to iFeng.comย (in Chinese), police asked internet users not to post grisly images of the crime that were spread online over the weekend. The South China Morning Postย saysย the incident has highlighted a โcrisis in psychiatric careโ in China โ the man had previously spent six months in a psychiatric hospital.
State-owned energy company reports massive loss
Sinopec Oilfield Service Corp, a Shanghai-listed unit of state-owned energy giant Sinopec, reported a loss in 2016 of 16 billion yuan ($2.3 billion), which the South China Morning Postย reportsย is โvery close to the record high 16.3 billion yuan loss registered by Chalco, the listed unit of Chinaโs second-largest aluminum producer Chinalco, in 2014.โ The huge loss is yet another sign that Xi Jinpingโs much-touted promiseย to give โa decisive role to the market economyโ is not being implemented.
โJeremy Goldkorn, Editor in Chief
This issue of the The China Projectย newsletter was produced by Jeremy Goldkorn and Lucas Niewenhuis. More China stories worth your time are curated below, with the most important ones at the top of each section.
BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:
- Didi tests English interface, foreign credit cards as it prepares to expand overseasย / SCMP
- China wins big with stakes in $22 billion Abu Dhabi oil dealย / Bloomberg
- Chengdu to run 1,000 cargo trains to Europe in 2017ย / China Daily
- United States to introduce social media vetting of Chinese touristsย / Jing Daily
- The burning problem of China’s garbageย – no sorting into waste streams and no slowing down with incinerationย / NPR
- China’s millennials are hustling for part-time gigs instead of traditional jobsย / Bloomberg
- China’s priciest airline stocks could soar even higherย / Bloomberg
POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:
- China puts heat on U.S. with North Korea coal crackdownย / WSJ (paywall)
- Chinese news agency warns South Korea’s Lotte over THAADย / Reuters
- South China Sea: U.S. carrier group begins ‘routine’ patrolsย / BBC
- China boosts arms exports by 74pc, while cutting reliance on outside providers, report findsย / SCMP
- Former Beijing deputy Party chief sentenced to 13 years in prisonย / China Daily
- Why China is building islands in the South China Seaย – one of the better videos on the topic / Vox
- Vietnam seeks stronger China ties despite new buildup on disputed islandsย / Voice of America
SOCIETY AND CULTURE:
- Another story by Chinese sci-fi writer Liu Cixin to hit screensย / China Film Insider